Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) vs HiFiMAN Arya Stealth: which needs more amplifier?

The Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) is 600Ω at 96.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the HiFiMAN Arya Stealth is 32Ω at 94.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

The HiFiMAN Arya Stealth needs 2.0 dB more than the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 2.5 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationBeyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω)HiFiMAN Arya Stealth
Impedance600 Ω32 Ω
Sensitivity96.0 dB94.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)98.2 dB/V108.9 dB/V
Power for 100 dB2.5 mW4.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB1.23 V0.36 V
Current for 100 dB2.0 mA11.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
75.00 Ω4.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
266280

One caution before reading the rows. Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) and HiFiMAN Arya Stealth printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, each of them needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

Where the two part company

14 of the 280 sources have the power for the HiFiMAN Arya Stealth but not for the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 11 more.

34 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) under the one-eighth rule but not for the HiFiMAN Arya Stealth (Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, ART HeadAmp 4 Pro, 31 more).

266 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) and HiFiMAN Arya Stealth. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Beyerdynamic and HiFiMAN never published — what Beyerdynamic publishes and what HiFiMAN publishes, both counted.